Pink again

It was another kind of pink last week.
The 'Giro d'Italia' started in Holland this year and last Sunday
the cycling caravan passed our place Houten.
Because of this special event Jet invited the whole family for
an Italian dinner after watching the Giro show.
It was a nice way to delay thinking about the impending visit to
the oncologist. A new bonescan was made and the result should be
discussed in two days.
A lovely party. Jet decorated the room with Italian banners and
other things in green, white and red. The food was delicious and
when the guests were gone, the kitchen was packed with plates,
cutlery and glasses. And empty bottles of course. Many !

On Monday the reality weighed heavily on the shoulders.
Anxious waiting. Enough green and red napkins to wipe the tears.
Tuesday 10.05 a.m.
Doctor de Jong told us that the result of the bonescan was very
good. Some of the metastasis visible last time in november
were invisible now. .
Probably one could hear our breath of relexation outside the room.
Also the testing of the blood gave an excellent result.

We were driving home on a pink cloude. Whoever shall win the Giro,
Jet will never give away her 'maglia rosa'

One year ago

This week it is exactly one year ago that the breast cancer was
discovered.
The events during last weeks have distracted the attention of the
impending visit to the oncologist.
An unspoken anxiety was ousted by Jet working as co-ordinator of
the removal of her mother from Heerlen to Houten.
Pain and fatigue were forgotten during the choices of wallpaper
and carpet.
Last Tuesday we had to go to the hospital.
Doubt and a little anxious to hear the result of the blood research.
But how good to hear that the cancer markers were even better than
last time.They are now within the normal ranges.
The medicines do their job and we left the hospital with a wonderful
feeling.

George van Vlijmen

The night after his 90. birthday my father was seized by a stroke.
After many hours of watching by him we saw him passing away
peacefully last Wednesday.
We can't describe our feelings now.

Christmas decor

The real Christmas feeling is being strengthened at this moment.
If we look outside from our decorated room, we see a real white
world around us.
Since we live here we have never had so much snow.
Yesterday we mesured 21 cm.


Decorating the house Jet always
put an iron snowman in the
garden with a text :
"LET IT SNOW".
We can't even find it under the
snow blanket.


Naturally now this is the ultimate Christmas decoration.
But after some time there will be the desire to sit in the sun
in this same chair.
But for now we enjoy our real WHITE CHRISTMAS.

Christmas

Collecting Christmas decorations is Jet's hobby that is carried
throughout the whole year.
In several big cities special Christmas shops are so attractive
that the stores are never passed without shopping.
So we bought wonderful things in Aken, Bern, Brussel, Brugge,
Gent, Köln, Lugano, Milano, Rothenburg (Käthe Wohlfahrt)Sydney etc.

If only once a year you can pursue your hobby, you must use the time
optimal.
And so Jet does !
Do you like to experience it from the distance?
See the album.
And please come back later to see the final decorations.

October has ended

Yesterday Jet said: "I'm happy the breast cancer month October
has ended". Probably the messages about the Mexican flu were
more frequent in the news, but for us the messages in the context
of the Pink Ribbon month were enough.
Today we had a consult with the oncologist about the result of
the last bone scan.
The warm shower this morning didn't help at all to get warm hands.
Driving to the hospital it was quiet in the car.
Jet's hands were even colder at that moment and I was thinking:
"How shall I see the trees on our way back home, colourfull or
only the empty black branches?"
Entering his room, Jet congratulated the oncologist with the first
place of the Anthonius hospital in the yearly official ranking.
Jet is the strongest ice-breaker one can think of.
After a long conversation about the effects of that honourable
positition of the hospital I was thinking : "Come on with the
result of the scan!"
He turned the computer screen in our direction and we saw four
small skeletons. The black dots we recongnized from the former
visit. Are there more? Are they larger?
"It looks fantastic", Dr. de Jong said. "No new metastasis and
even the old ones are less agressiv".
Nice these skeletons with front- and backside.
The alarming first confrontation with metastasis seemed to be
less ill now. But no skeleton, next to me was a radiant person
of flesh and blood !
Speaking about blood.
The medicines are working, because the cancer marker (CA15.3)
which is investigated frequently has a beautiful decreasing in
progression: May 112, June 81, August 52 and now in Oktober 35.
The autumn colours are beautiful.

Pink Ribbon

For such a long time no new messages in this blog.
Isn't it a good signal.
The summer holiday was a relaxed period. We enjoyed one week
in Germany with children and grandchildren and we went together
to Switzerland to our favourite village Aeschi, just above the
Thunersee.

But in the meantime the 'normal' life started again.
Strange, but we occasionally realise that there is no normal life.
Life became for us something very special. The daily routine is
less boring as before. The sun is shining more often and not only
because we have a beautiful autumn in Holland.
But life is so fragile at the same time, the diagnoses of cancer is
constantly on your shoulders and the effect of the metastasis gives
backache at the end of every day.
This month the yearly Pink Ribbon campaign started again.
The first time that we realised the impact of breast cancer was in
2002 in Sydney. We walked the bridge to Darling Harbour and the
Pink Ribbon organization had decorated the bridge with thousands
of bra's. Later in the park we saw so many of the special ribbons
with the names of women who died from breastcancer.
Of course we bought this year the Dutch version of the Pink Ribbon
Magazine. You never saw so much glossy pink. After some pages the
number of glamorous pictures and pink advertisements start to be
repugnant to us. All the stories of the lucky ones that had a breast
conserving surgery are glossy, but the reality for so many other
women living with metastasis and the uncertainty for the future is
absolutely not glossy at all.
At the end of this month another bone scan will give new information
about the actual situation. We hope it will be glossy enough to bring
in that imaginary personal magazine Jet deserves.